James Hall
Health authorities may try to curtail or even outlaw the annual Swazi bacchanal that commences with the arrival of buganu, the traditional brew fermented from the fruit of the maganu tree.
But even in light of a cholera outbreak that may be worsened by a brew made from tainted water, the summertime overindulgence that inspires legendary public sexual escapades is not likely to be inhibited.
“Nobody is going to stop the buganu from flowing,” says Sipho Matsebula, a bus conductor whose shoulders bulk up this time of year as he hefts large drums of the country brew to the tops of long-haul buses for delivery to urban centres, including Johannesburg.
“You can’t stop people from drinking, or the goat thefts and sex that goes along with it.”
The last week in January is when the women of the lowveld brew the seasonal drink, which is available through March.
The king and queen mother host welcoming ceremonies where the brew is honoured with traditional dancing. On a smaller ceremonial scale, buganu makes its appearance at rural homesteads with a sprinkling on the ground of the light yellow drink to recollect the ancestors, a moment’s solemnity before the raucous good times start.
In the towns the attraction is a cheap and plentiful potent brew. Buganu has a piquant taste, sweet but with a tongue-tingling aftertaste.
“Its effect is insidiously wonderful,” says Sonnyboy Dube, an aficionado from Manzini. “Its power is not like a kick; it creeps up on you, then takes over.”
For weeks Swazis are titillated by news reports of lovers whose inhibitions, at least publicly, are overcome by buganu. The clergy seems resigned to the bus rank and roadside copulations, while police are besieged with stock theft reports.
Among the beliefs associated with buganu is that it is Africa’s most potent aphrodisiac brew. The stuff also inspires a craving for meat, just at a time when Swaziland is experiencing a beef crisis due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Fat goats disappear from kraals and it is more than highway traffic that accounts for missing livestock, which lazy herd owners allow to graze unsupervised along median strips.
“The appeal of Swazi buganu in towns and I think in South Africa too has a lot to do with nostalgia for the country life many Africans have left behind,” says Manzini bottle store owner Charles Fakudze, who has little choice but to shrug off the loss of revenue the season invariably brings to his business.